Prince Andrew, who was once used to jetting off to America, the Caribbean, or Europe on lavish vacations, has seriously circumscribed vacay options these days.
Now, in an itinerary of dreary summer travels that would have appalled the “Air Miles Andy” of old, Andrew has fled to the safety of his mother’s Balmoral estate in Scotland for the second time in a month.
Andrew is believed to have made the dash north in an attempt to avoid the humiliation of being physically served papers in Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s upcoming civil lawsuit against him.
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British newspaper the Sun published pictures of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who still lives with him, in the passenger seats of a car that was apparently whisking them the 500 miles to Balmoral. The paper says there have been “multiple attempts” to serve the papers on Andrew at his home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.
Andrew is reported to have been going “stir-crazy” at the property. Although the Lodge, which was formally the late queen mother’s home, has extensive grounds that are a far from claustrophobia-inducing 98 acres, Andrew has reportedly been unwilling to go outside for fear of being pounced on by agents working for famed U.S. attorney David Boies.
Boies previously said in a BBC interview that it was not legally necessary to physically serve Andrew with any paperwork. However Andrew is believed to be fearful the theatrically minded Boies may seek to do so anyway, to shame Andrew and boost interest in the case.
Andrew might feel freer to venture outside at Balmoral, which includes some 50,000 acres of grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, access to which is tightly controlled, especially when the queen is in residence.
His mother is also hugely protective of her favorite son: The Daily Beast exclusively reported last month that British media organizations were warned against trying to snap a picture of Andrew at Balmoral, with lawyers cautioning papers and news outlets against taking or publishing pictures of the royal family or their guests at Balmoral after Andrew arrived there.
Andrew is not expected to respond or comment on the lawsuit. He has previously denied having sex with Roberts, and said he does not remember ever meeting her. He has sought to cast doubt on the provenance of the famous picture of him with his arm around Roberts’ bare midriff. Legal experts have previously told The Daily Beast he would not be entitled to diplomatic immunity, but that enforcing an American default judgment would be extremely difficult.
A source told the Sun: “Andrew was going stir-crazy inside Royal Lodge for the past few weeks. He wasn’t going horse riding and couldn’t step outside because of attempts to serve him with the legal papers. He knows he is far safer up at Balmoral on the queen’s estate.”
